The Headcase Stax thread

[kevin gilmore]

the Chinese krell copy while really good for the money is not exactly

the same as the original. The power supply is only one set of regulators,

not 2, there is a whole bunch less capacitance on the amp board, and

they did change the servo slightly. Most people are not going to notice

the difference.

[luvdunhill]

The original uses the BC trranistors?

[kevin gilmore]

the original and my klone use

all small pnp mps8599

all small npn mps8099

[nemomec]

I ordered the chinese KGSS amp now on cart100.com, the 230V voltage is here in germany perfect.    How ist the quality of the pot, it looks on the pictures very cheap also the cables on the Stax socket?

[kevin gilmore]

So my opinion of the sound of this thing is that it is very good indeed. Sounds a lot like a kgsshv

due to the output transistors, but nowhere near as much voltage swing, and that limits the dynamics

a bit.

 

The pot is definitely very cheap, but does seem to work ok. You certainly could un-wire it, and put a

decent pot directly on the front panel.

 

I need to spend more time with this, but kind of busy till friday

[spritzer]

I'm happy that I finally sent Kevin something he likes.  Last time was a Liquid Lightning which he wasn't too happy with... 

 

Is the pot a real Alps unit or a fake?  Can't tell from the pics... 

[Ali-Pacha]

cart100 doesn't work by my place 

 

Ali

[justin]

Ugh, the goddamn locking Neutrick jack strikes again!  Otherwise, holy heck that seems cheap even when you factor in the $99 shipping.

 

I know a genuine Nuetrick jack when i see one!

[justin]

Chinese companies usually know how to get a good product from Chinese manufacturers.  I imagine these will be made as advertised, though possibly with used caps.

 

what will happen when Chinese companies start making their own high-end products and have to deal with counterfeits from within their own country?

[kevin gilmore]

the pot says Taiwan on it and has a logo. I took a picture, but its fuzzy and I have to do it again.

 

goes and looks up alps logo.

 

yep its the alps logo

Edited May 14, 2014 by kevin gilmore

[Sherwood]

what will happen when Chinese companies start making their own high-end products and have to deal with counterfeits from within their own country?

 

This is a really interesting question.  The U.S.' standard line on IP theft is to bring it up at the highest levels, say that it undermines trust in business, say we can't release the best stuff in China, etc. etc.  We basically try to shame leaders with it, and use it to paint a picture of China as a backwards place, which is not in their interest.  It's the same kind of "top-down" approach we are using against Russia in Crimea, although obviously not as severe.

 

Germany's approach to IP theft is different.  They invest in Chinese companies making unique IP, and assume that China will develop robust IP protection in response to its own industry being pirated.  I think both approaches have merit, and I'm glad German companies are willing to invest in a possible solution here.

[Grahame]

Nevermind counterfeits, What about the same product ?

 

Western company contacts Chinese Factory's to produce  X,000 items.

 

Factory produces items to contract.

 

Having gone to all the effort of setting up a production line, and a supply chain, , why not run it a little longer ...

 

Western company now finds itself competing against, effectively, its own product with no obvious recourse ..

 

Helps if the item is a commodity, or can be easily re-branded ( sometimes they don't even go to that effort for other markets ...)

 

Thanks western capitalists! 

[Dusty Chalk]

what will happen when Chinese companies start making their own high-end products and have to deal with counterfeits from within their own country?

Unstable black hole is created and China becomes Ch'a?

[jgazal]

This topic reminds me the economics of interdependence and peacemaking. While German companies invest in Chinese IP, Russia pulls space cooperation in response to Ukraine sanctions. One must like the multilateralism.

 

It also reminds me Viktor Belenko, who defected in a MiG-25 to the United States via Japan. There was extensive use of vacuum tubes instead of semiconductors in that aircraft, but it is not clear if it was a sign of obsolescence or a deliberate choice. 

 

Dr. KG said that solar energy will retain the demand for high voltage semiconductors. Otherwise electrostatic amplifiers would face the same destiny of MIG-25: to rely only in vacuum tubes.

Edited May 15, 2014 by jgazal

[nopants]

Any transformer hum from the "MT-F1"? That's actually one of my issues from the SumR transformers I've been using for my builds, lamination hum which gets to be audible from about a foot away. I'm getting quoted at 740 from cart100, that's a pretty good price for THE MUSICAL JOURNEY

[DefQon]

what will happen when Chinese companies start making their own high-end products and have to deal with counterfeits from within their own country?

 

Good question and this sort of thing has been happening for a very very long time, groups of shady individuals that steal IP from other genuine manufacturers and manufacture clones and imitations (poor and good) without consent. More controllable with a 100 million people or so but get's messy with 1 billion plus, hard to keep watch on everything.

Edited May 15, 2014 by DefQon

[dreamwhisper]

I know this is a terrible question to ask, but how much colouration is there or tube distortion in the BHSE?

I've only heard 2 tube amps, one hybrid, and all had some sort of tube colouration, usually affecting details in the bass end etc.
The Tube DAC also suffered from this, but that could have been older tubes.
Also the amps were a  Darkvoice and a Cayin HA-1A, relatively cheap amps.

I have 2 Universal Audio mono tube pre-amps, and a stereo tube pre-amp that really don't suck.
But they're mostly used on bass and drum tracks, and although you can hear a slight distortion, it doesn't seem to transfer to the final mix.
Overall, they help instruments sound much more organic. Can't honestly say it's entirely neutral though.

Are there any tradeoffs like this in the BHSE?
Are the higher end tubes free from impurities and/or colouration?
 

Edited May 15, 2014 by dreamwhisper

[cclragnarok]

Any transformer hum from the "MT-F1"? That's actually one of my issues from the SumR transformers I've been using for my builds, lamination hum which gets to be audible from about a foot away. I'm getting quoted at 740 from cart100, that's a pretty good price for THE MUSICAL JOURNEY

 

The transformer in my Headamp KGSS also produces a similar level of hum.  Fortunately, it's more than 3 feet away from where I sit.

 

Getting a KGSS for the price of an SRM-323S is definitely nice, even with the cheap pot and 230V only transformer.

[Dusty Chalk]

I know this is a terrible question to ask, but how much colouration is there or tube distortion in the BHSE?

I've only heard 2 tube amps, one hybrid, and all had some sort of tube colouration, usually affecting details in the bass end etc.

The Tube DAC also suffered from this, but that could have been older tubes.

Also the amps were a  Darkvoice and a Cayin HA-1A, relatively cheap amps.

I have 2 Universal Audio mono tube pre-amps, and a stereo tube pre-amp that really don't suck.

But they're mostly used on bass and drum tracks, and although you can hear a slight distortion, it doesn't seem to transfer to the final mix.

Overall, they help instruments sound much more organic. Can't honestly say it's entirely neutral though.

Are there any tradeoffs like this in the BHSE?

Are the higher end tubes free from impurities and/or colouration?

All I can tell you is, the best sound I've ever heard was out of a BHSE -- if it was coloured, I didn't hear it.

[Voltron]

The three tube products you mention Sreamwhisper are poster children of tube coloration, bloat and distortion. The bhse is not anything like those creatures. It is not colored, almost to a fault. I prefer it with the Mullard xf2 tube to take soften the edges slightly and it still could not be called colored at that point. Neutral is the Headamp byword. Believe it.

[justin]

when it comes to headphones the sound of OTL tube amps is due to the amplifier driving a low impedance load that they are really not intended for. some like the effect this has, but it is coloration/distortion.

 

this does not apply to electrostatic headphones

Edited May 15, 2014 by justin

[rx79ez08]

If you can read enough Chinese you can register a Taobao account and deal directly with the seller. He seem to read English alright. The advantage is you can pay by credit card, sort of, and therefore aviod commission etc.

 

For those interested in other input voltage, he is happy to change the input transformer, but it might take longer for your order to go through.

 

I was going to leave it at the 220V default system. Then I put a multimeter into the power point at home and read 245V. Thought I better change to 230V.....

[DefQon]

If you can read enough Chinese you can register a Taobao account and deal directly with the seller. He seem to read English alright. The advantage is you can pay by credit card, sort of, and therefore aviod commission etc.

 

For those interested in other input voltage, he is happy to change the input transformer, but it might take longer for your order to go through.

 

I was going to leave it at the 220V default system. Then I put a multimeter into the power point at home and read 245V. Thought I better change to 230V.....

 

Take the plunge and order one for the Aussie team man! We're both within the same state and would like to know how good this is before I take the plunge personally. 

 

Did the seller say he will swap the transformer out for a 230/240v one or just for the States 115v voltage?

 

245vac sounds about right with what I get at the mains in my house, fluctuation between 239-246vac, no problems with my SS amp's but I have a few tube amp's that run through an unregulated PS design so that means higher heater voltage and everything else in the amp. I do have some 240v-220v step down transformers but they take up space and limited to only 1 device.

 

This deal is killing me.

[The Expanding Man]

Take the plunge and order one for the Aussie team man! We're both within the same state and would like to know how good this is before I take the plunge personally. 

 

Did the seller say he will swap the transformer out for a 230/240v one or just for the States 115v voltage?

 

245vac sounds about right with what I get at the mains in my house, fluctuation between 239-246vac, no problems with my SS amp's but I have a few tube amp's that run through an unregulated PS design so that means higher heater voltage and everything else in the amp. I do have some 240v-220v step down transformers but they take up space and limited to only 1 device.

 

This deal is killing me.

 

I'm very tempted - but I live in Perth.

[rx79ez08]

Take the plunge and order one for the Aussie team man! We're both within the same state and would like to know how good this is before I take the plunge personally. 

 

Did the seller say he will swap the transformer out for a 230/240v one or just for the States 115v voltage?

Will keep you in the loop when it finally arrives.

 

The standard unit is 220V. But the seller doesn't seem to have a problem with getting a new transformer. He said it will take a week to get a 230V one for me. I guess 115V one will probably be of similar time frame.